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Recap of the Chambersburg Peach Bowl Football Showcase

Tagged under: District 1, District 12, District 3, District 5, District 7, News, pfn

| August 30, 2022


First and foremost, special thanks should be given to Chambersburg’s AD Ron Coursey who put together a pretty good six-game package.  He, his administrative assistant, Cindy Myers, and all his other helpers did a fantastic job.  Although only 5 games were played, three of those were classic games and two of them went down to the final seconds.

Steelton-Highspire 21 Bishop Canevin 14

The first game of the showcase pitted PFN’s top two teams in single A.  The #1 team, Bishop Canevin, probably had the better of the play Friday night, especially in the second half.  They outgained #2 Steelton-Highspire by a wide margin.  The one thing Canevin did not have was a Jakhai Noss.  The Steelton senior was a force scoring touchdowns three different ways.  He ran for a 15-yard score to tie the game in the first quarter.  He gave his team the lead in the second quarter by snaring a pass from Alex Erby that covered 59 yards.  But, the difference in the game was his electrifying 85-yard pick six at the end of the first half.  He said he was just doing what he can to help his team win.  By doing what he did Friday, he’s also making a name for himself.

Steelton’s Jakhai Noss with the ball and looking for daylight.

Besides the play of Noss, it was what happened at the end of the game that fans, players, and the media will remember the most.  With the score 21-14 in Steelton’s favor, the Steamrollers stopped the Crusaders on fourth down at the Steelton 44 with 3:30 remaining in the game.  Erby then connects on a third down pass to Ronald Burnette to the Canevin 23.  With 1:41 remaining and Canevin having only one timeout left, Steelton gambles to put the game out of reach.  They pass.  The ball gets tipped and intercepted.  By completing five straight passes, the Crusaders drive to the Steelton 2-yard line.  On second down they throw an incomplete pass.  Only seconds remain.  On third down, a bad snap results in Canevin’s quarterback recovering at the 9.  It is now fourth down and there is time for one more play as the clock winds down to zero, the ball is snapped and it is spiked to stop the clock.  Game over.  Steel High wins in an improbable ending.  It was a great beginning to the Peach Bowl Showcase.

St. Vincent Pallotti vs. Harrisburg

Game two Friday night had St. Vincent Pallotti, a powerhouse of a team, from Laurel, Maryland making the trip to face the #3 PFN ranked 6A Harrisburg Cougars.  The opening kickoff was sandwiched between two half hour lightning delays.  When more lightning was sighted, the officials had to cancel the game.  People from Pennsylvania, especially Harrisburg, naturally thought they would win and quite possibly win with ease.  But, in talking to some Pallotti fans they had the mindset that Harrisburg was well scouted and the Panthers were good enough to surprise a few folks.  Pallotti had four linemen that averaged 6’3” 318 lbs.  It would’ve been a good game for sure.  One side note, with all that lightning around it never did rain.  But with lightning, safety is the number one concern.

Windber 57 Fairfield 0

The initial game Saturday was the Windber Ramblers and the Fairfield Knights.  This single A contest was the one lop-sided game of the showcase as Windber was just too much for Fairfield.  John Shuster led the way for the Ramblers as he ran for 140 yards and scored 3 times.  Windber used to be known as the ‘Coaltowners’ back in the day, but their nickname was changed to ‘Ramblers’ because they were pretty good and were willing to travel to play games.  Windber has 50 kids on their roster, but Fairfield only has 18.  Jason Thurston, Fairfield’s coach, was appreciative when told it was obvious his team played hard to the last whistle and never once hung their heads despite losing so bad and some of the players cramping up in the second half.  Windber’s coach, Matt Grohal, was thankful Windber was given an opportunity to play in the Peach Bowl Classic and that they came away with no injuries.

The victorious Windber Ramblers. Coach Matt Grohal is on the far right.

Woodland Hills 28 William Penn 24

The next game between Woodland Hills and William Penn was a game of two halves.  Woodland Hills jumped out to a 28-8 halftime lead, thanks to 3 rushing touchdowns by Elijah Nesby.  The first TD he scored was a 69-yarder on the first play from scrimmage.  Brandon Jones is Woodland Hills’ top back, but he was not able to go, so in stepped Nesby.  Plagued by turnovers and penalties in the second half, the Wolverines of Woody High allowed the Bearcats of William Penn to climb back into the game.  With a little over four minutes remaining in the game and trailing 28-24, William Penn recovered a Wolverine fumble at the Woodland Hills 40.  The Bearcats methodically moved the ball eating up the clock.  With only seconds left William Penn had the ball at the Woody High one-yard line facing a fourth down.  Woodland Hills had stopped three straight runs but looked very tired and in shock at what had transpired in the second half.  So, the Bearcats handed the ball one more time to their all-state RB Jaheim White who had 123 yards rushing at this point, but Kellen McDonough and the Woodland Hills defense stuffed him in the backfield denying William Penn the victory.

Woodland Hills (in white) celebrates after stopping William Penn’s Jaheim White at the goal line.

William Penn head coach Russ Stoner had this to say about the game, “I’m happy with the team’s performance but I’m too old.  I want to win and the kids want to win.  At the end of the day, we put on a hell of a show for everybody.  Ron Coursey, you’re welcome.  It was a whale of a football game.”  Tim Bostard, the Woodland Hills coach said, “I don’t know what to say.  We went into halftime knowing York was not going to quit.  Down on the goal line with a running back like that… I don’t want to say we were lucky, but we lived up to the Wolverine way.”

Imhotep 19 Bishop McDevitt 14

The third game Saturday was the Crown Jewell of the Peach Bowl Showcase featuring PFN’s 5A top team, the Imhotep Panthers and PFN’s #2 team in 4A, the Bishop McDevitt Crusaders.  There was Division 1 talent all over the field in this game.  It was billed as McDevitt’s offense versus Imhotep’s defense.  Imhotep’s defense swarmed around the ball and smothered McDevitt especially every time the Crusaders seemed to get something going.  And that was the difference.  McDevitt QB Stone Saunders threw for 286 yards and a touchdown by completing 22 of 43 passes.  But each time the Crusaders penetrated into Panther real estate, Imhotep’s defense made plays to stop McDevitt cold.  Seven times McDevitt marched into or started a possession in Imhotep’s half of the field and seven times they came up empty.  “That’s the best defense we’ll see all year,” stated McDevitt head coach Jeff Weachter.

The Imhotep Panthers celebrate their hard-fought win over Bishop McDevitt.

Imhotep’s offense was led by Georgia recruit Jabree Wallace-Coleman’s 136 yards rushing, 82 of which came on his second quarter touchdown run.  Mikal Davis looked pretty smooth as the Panther quarterback too, passing for a score and running effectively to keep McDevitt off balance.  After going up 19-7 with under 9 minutes to go in the game, Imhotep appeared to be in complete control.  But McDevitt’s Jaire Rawlison returned a Panther fumble 41 yards to make the score 19-14 with 3:20 left.  After that, the Imhotep offense took charge, getting two first downs to run out the clock.

Central Bucks East 38 Chambersburg 21

The finale of the Peach Bowl Showcase featured the Patriots of Central Bucks East against the hometown Chambersburg Trojans.  Ethan Shine was one of the bright spots for C.B. East as he scored twice including a 74-yard jaunt and finished the night with 141 yards on 16 carries. One of the other bright spots for the Patriot offense was quarterback Pat Keller’s 152 yards passing and 2 TD tosses.  C.B. East totaled 400 yards for the evening.  Their defense had pitched a shutout through 3 quarters and the game was out of hand going into the last quarter with the Pats up 31-0.  That’s when Chambersburg quarterbacks threw 3 touchdown passes, 2 by Evan Zullinger and the other by Riley Harmon mostly against C.B. East backups.

CBE (in white). QB Pat Keller about to receive the snap. Chambersburg’s CB Andy Jean (#3) in the foreground.

Trojan coach Mark Luther actually used 3 quarterbacks in the game as Jermere Jones accounted for over 100 yards passing and running combined.  The other two QBs threw for over 100 yards.  “Each quarterback offers something different,” Luther stated.  “We didn’t run the ball well enough and they just teed off on us,” he continued.  John Donnelly, the Central Bucks East coach was unavailable for comment as he lost his voice during the game.

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